用舞蹈的科学丰富学习

Skidmore faculty and students are partnering with schools, teachers, and PBS Learning Media to help elementary school students learn and grow through an innovative streaming 学院开设的舞蹈课程.  

莎拉素质，副教授，中国科学院院长 舞蹈系他是“为成功而舞,” a series that helps elementary school teachers and students use movement to explore topics such as sharing, listening to and accepting others, and expressing and understanding 情绪.  

The interdisciplinary program is rooted in academic research on how movement activates different areas of the brain and can support socio-emotional learning in the classroom. The program involves collaborators from across the College, including Skidmore's 教育研究学系, 管理及营业部约翰·B. 摩尔纪录片研究合作(MDOCS), 唐教学博物馆及美术馆.    

According to 素质, who is also a trained physical therapist, mindful movements presented in the series strengthen the mind-body connection and positively influence student achievement, attendance, and behavior. 

“Dance is a really wonderful way to activate the brain in various ways. 我们知道 pieces of movement actually help us to do things academically,” said 素质, who said she was also inspired by her own young children’s experiences in school.

“我们知道舞蹈可以帮助孩子们集中注意力. 我们知道舞蹈可以帮助孩子取得成就. 因此, 跳舞的孩子越多越好.” 

In addition to helping elementary school students, “为成功而舞” provides cross-disciplinary learning experiences and career development opportunities for students at Skidmore. Students from a variety of majors are involved in every stage of the production process, from developing content and performing the dance routines, to producing the videos 支持社区外展.  

Juliana Willis '22, a sociology major with minors in management and business, 艺术管理, and dance, recently served as student marketing manager for the program, allowing her to interview elementary school teachers about improvements to the video series, work with musicians, and promote the program to local elementary school teachers and 管理员.  

“I am looking to go into 艺术管理, and I think that this experience is something that's really strong on my resume because it integrates everything I'm studying,” 威利斯说,.  

Lea Leventhal '23, a dance and social justice studies double major, also took a workshop offered in conjunction with the program and served as an intern. 除了编舞 a segment based on scholarly research, she served as a film editor.  

“For me, it was useful to be working with a program that took dance, which is a thing that I care about, and implement it into education,” Leventhal said.  

为成功而舞 has partnered with Gloversville Enlarged School District, Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC), local PBS affiliate WMHT to bring the programming 致社会. 素质 said she is now looking forward to bringing the program into even more schools across the country though its collaboration with PBS学习媒体.  

“这是一个免费的程序. We have no intention of ever charging for this work,” added 素质. “It’s physical research, it's educational research, and it's really a community service that we hope to continue for decades to come.”